Kirk here with an introduction to an article titled “TSMC Kumamoto fab expected to spur Taiwanese investment in Japan.” The most interesting aspect of the article to me was the graphic you see. Kumamoto is Fab 23 (fabrication plant no. 23) and will be producing chips that have transistors that are between 12 to 28 nanometers big. This is not as good as what is produced in Taiwan where 3 nm chips are already being made and 2 nm chips are in development. The size of the chips is important “because the smaller the size of a single transistor, the [more] tightly they can be packed together” thus making faster, more powerful chips:
https://pocketnow.com/chip-nanometer-technology-explained/
The chips to be produced in Kumamoto will be considerably less advanced than those produced at the fab under construction in Arizona. Kumamoto’s chips will be closer to those produced in Shanghai and Nanjing in terms of the level of technical sophistication.